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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 Re:  Annual  Assessment  of  the  Status  of  Competition  in  the  Market  for  the  Delivery  of  Video  Programming  (MB  Docket  No.  06-  189) 
 We  all  want  the  market  for  video  programming  to  be  competitive.  Not  for  the  sake  of  competition,  but  because  competition  is  the  surest  road  for  bringing  real  benefits  to  consumers.  When 
 they  have  more  options,  consumers  reap  big  rewards—  better  services,  higher  technology  and,  very  importantly,  lower  prices. 


 There  is  enormous  potential  for  increased  competition  in  the  video  programming  market.  We  are  seeing  large  investments  from  existing  participants  in  the  marketplace  and  also  from  telephone  company 
 entrants  and  others  that  are  expanding  their  efforts  to  deliver  video  programming.  We  are  seeing  new  technologies  that  have  the  potential  to  utterly  transform  the  viewing  experience.  Getting  these  new 
 products  and  services  out  to  all  Americans  is  going  to  be  a  challenge,  however,  so  we  need  to  be  working  toward  the  kind  of  competition  that  leaves  no  area  behind,  whether  it’s  the  inner  city  or  the  rural  farm. 
 We  should  also  work  to  ensure  that  competition  expands  consumer  options.  While  consumers  have  access  to  more  channels  than  ever  before,  it  does  not  follow  that  they  have  the  power  to  reject 
 objectionable  programming  or  keep  at  bay  rates  that  are  rising  at  2-˝  times  the  rate  of  inflation.  Different  interests  cite  different  reasons  for  these  problems,  but  we  owe  it  to  consumers  and  to  Congress  to  get  to 
 the  bottom  of  these  questions  in  the  Report  that  will  follow  from  today’s  Notice  of  Inquiry. 
 If  we  are  going  to  continue  to  improve  these  Reports,  we  need  the  submission  of  detailed  comments  from  the  widest  possible  range  of  sources.  Our  analysis  can  be  only  as  good  as  the  data  going 
 into  it.  If  the  record  that  develops  falls  short  in  any  way,  the  Commission  must  then  rely  upon  other  public  data  to  round  out  the  picture  of  competition  in  the  video  programming  marketplace.  My  preferred 
 method  would  entail,  in  addition  to  the  submitted  comments  and  public  data,  intensive  and  proactive  Commission  information-  gathering  to  obtain  independent  and  verified  data.  Such  an  effort  would  help 
 ensure  the  accuracy  of  our  findings  and  help  us  to  fulfill  Congress’  directive. 
 So  thanks  to  the  Bureau  for  its  work  in  teeing  this  up  and  my  hope  is  that  this  thirteenth  Report  will  be  the  charm. 
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